


Spoils of War

by drakyrna



Series: Dawning of a New Era [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Minor Character Death, Post-Marineford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:39:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9193778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drakyrna/pseuds/drakyrna
Summary: The war is over and Doflamingo is taking in the new sights. AU.





	

Rubble shifted beneath his feet as Doflamingo wandered aimlessly through the remains of Marineford, the remnants of the war with Whitebeard scattered catastrophically about the sundered island. Marines of all ranks picked through the war-torn streets, collecting up their wounded comrades while mourning lost friends with hands full of I.D. tags. The Pacifista dotted the landscape at random, picking out left-over enemies for incarceration--or, more frequently as the pirates often resisted, elimination. Smoke and dust whipped about on the heavy winds, making searches--of any kind--difficult at best.

The lanky Shichibukai smiled widely, enamored of the atmosphere. Walking amongst the dead and dying brought with it a sense of nostalgia; of days long past where destruction followed in the the wake of a pirate who cast aside ridiculous notions of romanticism for physical indulgences of what he could see and touch. His fingers would twitch occasionally at the sound of a moan of pain, the body's identification often followed by an agonized cry ended in sudden silence. His grin only grew wider with each shout.

He paused to check one of his recent victims, chuckling sardonically at the bloodied marine logo emblazoned on the back of the torn uniform.

"You were too weak to live in this New Era anyway," the Shichibukai asserted, unconcerned for his error.

He meandered further, balancing easily on the debris as he hopped from piece to piece. Mounds of melted slag gathered in heaped puddles the closer the blonde got to the island's edge. He was unlikely to find survivors down "Akainu's Trail" as it had come to be called and turned to bypass it when a glint of reflected sunlight caught his eye. It was too bright to be part of the melted goo; the mixed materials had made the sludge dull and non-reflective. Curious, the tall man jumped along some boulders to see what he had stumbled upon, landing atop a collected hump of stone and...glass?

Puzzled by the odd collection of materials, he noticed a dark shape caught in a deep crack in the debris and shifted carefully for a better look. Doflamingo froze, smile completely gone from his face, as he suddenly realized what exactly he was staring at.

Nestled between the shattered rock was Crocodile, battered, bleeding, and unconscious. Well, that explained the glass at least...

With a bit more careful maneuvering, Doflamingo managed to get closer. Hunching over the crack, one long arm reached in and fisted a handful of black material. He gave an experimental yank to be sure the former shichibukai was truly unconscious (he was a crafty croc after all). Seeing no reaction, he hefted upward, shifting his weight backwards as he pulled the smaller man out. 

It took a few tugs to get the man completely free of the hole, Doflamingo hauling the dead weight to its feet and clutching the body close as he checked Crocodile over. Blood dampened his shirt, oozing thickly from several wounds and the skin was pale and clammy and sporting some nasty burns. He felt a bit cooler than he remembered too...

"Red Dog sure did a number on you...Are you even alive I wonder?" he murmured mostly to himself as his free hand brushed against the other's neck, seeking some sort of life sign.

A hook suddenly pressed up against his throat, the tip digging dangerously into soft flesh. With a shudder, Crocodile lifted his head to glare menacingly, body shaking badly with the effort. His golden eyes, so normally sharp and predatory, were now dull and unfocused.

"I won't...go back...!" the sand man gritted out between blood-flecked lips.

Doflamingo stared impassively at the other. Crocodile was barely even conscious, but he apparently still had some fight left in him. A wide smirk spread across his face again at the thought. The smaller man's eyes widened minutely with a brief flash of recognition.

"...know that.......smile..." he murmured brokenly, going limp as his hook dropped to his side, a shallow cut left in its wake.

The blonde laughed cheerfully at the remark, his hand lightly tracing a bloody path across the unconscious man's scared face.

"I know yours too, my dear Crocodile~," he sing-songed gleefully before hefting the other over one shoulder and hopping along the debris again.

"Once we get you fixed up, we can play just like old times, hmm? Fufufufu!"

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of an AU since we know that Crocodile seems to come out of his fight with Akainu mostly fine, but I wrote down the idea before Oda released that chapter and I liked the idea too much to change it. Originally posted to the DoflaCroc community on LJ.


End file.
